The June 3, 2019 Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Webinar is now available at the Public Watchdogs YouTube Channel.
The NRC has promised that it will publish a video of today’s deeply disturbing Webinar, but we doubt they”ll get around to publishing it for several weeks, so we have published it here.
The webinar was is supposed to reassure the public that the NRC is actually doing its job protecting the public’s safety at the site of the failed San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. The site is now the location of the USA’s largest privately owned an operated beachfront nuclear waste dump. The dump, which is located 108 feet from the beach, will ultimately contain 72 thin-walled canisters of nuclear waste that’s deadly to all human life for at least 250,000 years.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved the plan to bury the waste on the beach in a canister system that is only guaranteed to last ten years by the manufacturer. The company that makes the cans, Holtec International, has a reputation for bribery.
According to Charles Langley, the Executive Director of Public Watchdogs, “The NRC has conspired with Southern California Edison to keep two “near-miss” nuclear accidents a secret, and now they are back-pedaling in an effort to show the public that the a deeply flawed nuclear waste storage system is safe.
At issue is the fact that every single one of Holtec’s nuclear waste canisters has beeh gouged during what is known as the “downloading” process. The canisters are made of 5/8″ stainless steel. Each canister carries a 100,000 pound payload of nuclear waste, which is moved by a a “Hi-Track” tractor assembly into a carbon steel silo. Carbon steel is vulnerable to rust. The bottom of each silo is situated just a foot or two above the saltwater table at San Onofre.
The first near-miss occurred on July 22, and has been ignored by the NRC as documented in this sworn affidavit. The second near-miss happened on August 3. The only reason we know about the August 3 near-miss is that a brave whistleblower stepped forward and reported it. The two events have created widespread public alarm about the integrity of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and enhances a growing public mistrust of Southern California Edison.
According to Langley, “Today’s Webinar shows that the NRC cannot be trusted to protect us. They have given Southern California Edsion a bunch of boxes to check off, and a green light to proceed with a dangerously flawed engineering design.”